Dancing Trees and Winter Wheat
Last night at the Andrew Peterson tribute to Rich Mullins, we heard a performance of of Mullins’s song “The Color Green.” I have heard this for years on the CD, but the version last night was lush and on fire, mainly because it had the energy of a live performance, but with the instrumentation of hours in the production booth, with 5 guitars, three percussion guys, Irish whistle, string section, and grand piano, along with some of the best musicians in Nashville.
The song tells of the “rocks crying out” to praise God, how the created world declares its Maker’s praise, and the chorus gives this song to nature:
Be praised for all Your tenderness by these works of Your hands
Suns that rise and rains that fall to bless and bring to life Your land
Look down upon this winter wheat and be glad that You have made
Blue for the sky and the color green that fills these fields with praise
But for me, the best part follows this chorus. That's what the video shows. I watched “The Color Green” by Rich Mullins on Spotify, and it does move from black and white to color at this point in the song, but it doesn’t capture the exuberance I visualized from the performance last night. When I hear this part, I see all of nature animating and bursting into color. Everything starts dancing – the trees, the flowers, the winter wheat, the rocks, the grass, the forest, the ocean, the mountains, the prairies. They all dance for God, because of God, to the glory of God, and because they are filled with the joy of God.
Jesus said, “If [my followers] keep quiet, the stones will shout praises.” Just listen to this song section and you will want to join in this jubilant, exultant dance. If we would only take some cues from nature and party with God, we would experience the same joy. “Celebrate God all day every day.” (Philippians 4:4, The Message)
